Winter of the Ice Wizard

eye?” said Jack. “That’s who he meant when he said he ‘traded with the Fates’?”
    â€œIt would seem so,” said Teddy.
    â€œHe said we should take his sleigh to find them,” said Annie. “Where’s his sleigh?”
    â€œLook,” said Kathleen, pointing. “ ’Tis there.”
    â€œOh, wow,” said Annie.
    Not far away, a strange-looking silver sleigh glided silently from behind a snowbank. The sleigh looked like a small sailing ship with shiny runners. No one was steering it, and no horses or reindeer were pulling it. From its mast, a white sail drooped in the still air.
    As the sleigh slid to a stop, an eerie howl shattered the calm of the windless night.
    â€œWolves!” cried Teddy. “Let us make haste!”
    Kathleen grabbed his arm. “Do not run,” she said. “If we run, they will chase us.”
    â€œYes, of course,” said Teddy. “They must not see that we are afraid.”
    Another howl shattered the air.
    â€œRun!” cried Teddy.
    They all charged across the snow to the sleigh and scrambled into it. Jack and Kathleen stood at the front, and Annie and Teddy stood at the back.
    â€œThere they are!” cried Teddy, pointing. “The white wolves of the night!”
    Jack turned and saw two large white wolves dashing across the plain in the moonlight. As the wolves ran toward the sleigh, their big paws scattered snow around them.
    â€œGo, go, go!” Jack cried, clutching the front of the sleigh.
    But the sleigh didn’t move. And the wolves kept coming. “How can we make it go?” cried Jack.
    â€œUse the wind-string!” said Teddy.
    Jack pulled the knotted string the wizard had given him out of his pocket. “Use it
how
?” he shouted.
    â€œUntie a knot!” said Teddy.
    Jack pulled off his gloves. His fingers were trembling as he tried to untie one of the knots.
This is crazy!
he thought.
How can untying a knot in a string help us?
But soon he managed to loosen one of the knots.
    A cold breeze began blowing from behind the sleigh. It ruffled the sail overhead.
    â€œUntie another!” shouted Teddy. “Hurry!”
    Jack quickly untied a second knot. The breeze grew stronger, and the sail filled out a bit more. The sleigh’s shiny runners began sliding across the snow.
    â€œYay!” called Annie. “It works!”
    â€œYes, but not nearly swiftly enough!” said Teddy.
    Jack looked back. The two white wolves had almost caught up with them. They were yelping and running behind the sleigh. Their mouths were open, showing their sharp teeth.
    Jack quickly untied a third knot. A cold wind blasted the sail. It opened with a snap, and the sleigh shot forward!

    â€œStand fast!” cried Teddy.
    Jack, Annie, and Kathleen held tightly to the sides of the sleigh to keep from falling out. Teddy grabbed the rudder and steered them over the snow, away from the ice palace.
    The wizard’s sleigh zoomed across the frozen ground, leaving the white wolves in its wake. Their yelping noises grew fainter and fainter, until they could be heard no more.

    The wind kept pushing the silver sleigh over the ice and snow. The runners made
swish-swish
sounds as they slid over the moonlit plain. The square sail billowed in the wind, like the sail of a Viking ship. With the wolves far behind, the ride was really fun, but cold.
    â€œHow did you know untying knots would make the wind blow?” Jack asked Teddy.
    â€œÂ â€™Tis an ancient magic,” said Teddy. “I have read of wind-strings but had never seen one.”
    â€œIt’s a good thing you read so much,” said Annie.
    â€œOh, look!” said Kathleen. “Hares and foxes!”
    â€œWhere?” said Annie.
    â€œThere!” Kathleen pointed into the dark distance. “Playing in the snow! And listen! Whistling swans—overhead, behind that cloud.”
    â€œWow,” said Annie.
    Jack was amazed by Kathleen’s power to see and hear so many things. As before, the moonlit landscape seemed completely empty to him.
    â€œWhere are you steering us?” Annie asked Teddy.
    â€œI have no idea!” said Teddy, laughing.
    â€œWe’re supposed to go to a curve of a bay to find the Norns,” said Annie.
    â€œThen turn left and follow the swans!” said Kathleen, pointing across the snowy plain. “They are flying toward the sea!”
    Teddy swerved the